Chapter 8:China!!!
Chinese culture in the middle ages was the golden period. This was the time where writing was made elaborate, and there was an economic revolution. Cities were populated in the hundred thousands and a few even in the million range. Just like many other civilizations,(unfortunately) women were not in positions of power and prosperity. They did not hold office, and could not get educated. When the song dynasty the silk industry was taken from rural women because it left profit. Also, this was the time when foot binding started. Foot binging is a process where a young women wraps her feet in ribbon to deform or manipulate the growing of the feet. The text explains that this was done so that women would stay at home or close to home. In addition, women who banded their feet were not seen as peasants.
The development of the tribute system was also key to the growth of the empire. The song and Han dynasties had a love hate relationship with the barbarians, they needed them for horses but they built a great wall to keep them from invading. The tribute system was a practice where the Chinese and their neighbors would exchange gifts as means of delegation.
Chinas prosperity was a means of spreading culture and religion. The spread of Buddhism and Daoism was big due to the cultural influence that China had to its neighbors. The elite Korean families would send their best to study in China, and along with exposure to the culture came religion. The arrival of Buddhism to china had a great impact, Buddhism became a Chinese practice. It all started when the silk road brought the ideas into China, but it also helped promote the religion further east into Korea and Japan.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
Chapter 9/10
With the rise of Islam, came prosperity in Western Asia. Presently known as the middle east, the Muslim world developed during and after the life of Muhammad. As his teachings became important, so did his leadership. In the 600's the start of the Caliphate marked the rise of Muslim culture. Mohammad offered religious and political leadership that is still very strong in the areas it first reached at the time. within 500 years of Muhammad, Islam had stretched out as far east as India, as far west as the Iberian peninsula,as far north as eastern Europe, and as far south as southern Africa. Many political movements stem from the spread of Islam, Including the Moor Spanish rule, The sultanate in India, and the rise of the ottoman empire. Trade facilitated the spread of Islam through all trade routes. The silk road, the sand route, and the sea roads spread the teachings of Muhammad. Today Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. This time was a golden era for the religion and culture. The middle ages in Europe does not means that the whole world took a decline in knowledge and culture.
In chapter 10 as we examine the worlds of Christendom we see that the religion thrived. the byzantine empire outlived it parent roman empire, Christianity moved to Africa around 640,and orthodox Christianity spread to Ukraine and Russia. However there were "invasions" by Muslims and Vikings that shook up stability and growth in the area. The invasions are seen as bad years in Europe while the crusades are seeing in a positive manner. People forget that the pope had its army that would go take lands back, but regular people decided to go take land back because the pope promised salvation to those who would regain land. I quite think that merging these two chapters into one blog post is great because one can divert away from the Eurocentric perspective.
With the rise of Islam, came prosperity in Western Asia. Presently known as the middle east, the Muslim world developed during and after the life of Muhammad. As his teachings became important, so did his leadership. In the 600's the start of the Caliphate marked the rise of Muslim culture. Mohammad offered religious and political leadership that is still very strong in the areas it first reached at the time. within 500 years of Muhammad, Islam had stretched out as far east as India, as far west as the Iberian peninsula,as far north as eastern Europe, and as far south as southern Africa. Many political movements stem from the spread of Islam, Including the Moor Spanish rule, The sultanate in India, and the rise of the ottoman empire. Trade facilitated the spread of Islam through all trade routes. The silk road, the sand route, and the sea roads spread the teachings of Muhammad. Today Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. This time was a golden era for the religion and culture. The middle ages in Europe does not means that the whole world took a decline in knowledge and culture.
In chapter 10 as we examine the worlds of Christendom we see that the religion thrived. the byzantine empire outlived it parent roman empire, Christianity moved to Africa around 640,and orthodox Christianity spread to Ukraine and Russia. However there were "invasions" by Muslims and Vikings that shook up stability and growth in the area. The invasions are seen as bad years in Europe while the crusades are seeing in a positive manner. People forget that the pope had its army that would go take lands back, but regular people decided to go take land back because the pope promised salvation to those who would regain land. I quite think that merging these two chapters into one blog post is great because one can divert away from the Eurocentric perspective.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Chapter 7
Chapter 7 symbolizes the beginning of globalization. why one might ask? The producing of goods for people thousands of miles away began. The silk road was the catalyst into modern day globalization. picture a person living in Europe that asks someone in the middle east, hey where you get these plates? China was the place where the nice plates were made, and that is why we call it china. Many more things in this era still shape the way that society is formed today. For example, The reason why the Spanish decided to "discovered" the new world is because Columbus wanted to find a route to china that would undercut all the people along the silk road that would drive the prices of goods up.
Now that one mentions the new world, the "discovering" of this section of the world was not quite a discovery. people already lived here, called it turtle island but didn't communicate with people from other continents. Just because the Europeans arrived does not mean that the societies were not advanced. I would have like to hear about the cultures in the Teotihuacan area after the Mayans, and further info on the Pochteca trade routes. Sadly written history was destroyed by the Spanish upon colonization.
At the same time, the trade routes from Africa into the rest of the world are undermined. The Ghana, Mali and the Swahili had trade routes to the Sahara, which had access to the Mediterranean sea. I enjoyed reading this part the most because it was first time in my life that I learned that African trade was important in the Middle ages. This is something that needs to be put into more history books. African societies were more than self centered and dancers. I enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter 7 symbolizes the beginning of globalization. why one might ask? The producing of goods for people thousands of miles away began. The silk road was the catalyst into modern day globalization. picture a person living in Europe that asks someone in the middle east, hey where you get these plates? China was the place where the nice plates were made, and that is why we call it china. Many more things in this era still shape the way that society is formed today. For example, The reason why the Spanish decided to "discovered" the new world is because Columbus wanted to find a route to china that would undercut all the people along the silk road that would drive the prices of goods up.
Now that one mentions the new world, the "discovering" of this section of the world was not quite a discovery. people already lived here, called it turtle island but didn't communicate with people from other continents. Just because the Europeans arrived does not mean that the societies were not advanced. I would have like to hear about the cultures in the Teotihuacan area after the Mayans, and further info on the Pochteca trade routes. Sadly written history was destroyed by the Spanish upon colonization.
At the same time, the trade routes from Africa into the rest of the world are undermined. The Ghana, Mali and the Swahili had trade routes to the Sahara, which had access to the Mediterranean sea. I enjoyed reading this part the most because it was first time in my life that I learned that African trade was important in the Middle ages. This is something that needs to be put into more history books. African societies were more than self centered and dancers. I enjoyed this chapter.
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Chapter 6!
The topic of this chapter is commonalities and variations. The chapter opens up with very shocking ones unfortunately. The world's population was very unevenly distributed. More than three quarters of the world populations lived in Eurasia, which made me wonder why the scale was so tipped during those times. The answer might likely be development, and what resources each land mass and/or civilization had to work with.
The second thing that jumped to my attention was the methods of ruling, since the Nubia civilization had women rule, which provided diversity among the society. In the other side of the spectrum, the Axum civilization administrated loosely, well sort of. Instead of collecting taxes this society wanted people to make tribute payments. In the middle of the spectrum, the Niger river civilization had no central power.
The maya Civilization is something that comes to no surprise, they collapsed because of warfare, and I have read this many times, watched documentaries, but I wonder what we would know about the civilization had we as a society have Mayan books and scriptures in abundance today.
One thing I did not comprehend on this reading was the collapse of Teotihuacan, because the book states that the city collapsed around 650. As someone who studied history in Mexico during grade school, we were not taught this. We were actually thought that the civilization evolved, due to the diversity of the Nahua, the Otomi, and the Totonac peoples. Unfortunately, world history undermines indigenous groups of present day Mexico that were smaller than Aztecs and Mayans, and of course the 1st ones which were the toltecs. For example, When people say Mexicans have Aztec blood I do not relate to it, because my Indigenous roots lie in the Purepecha civilization, which was not conquered by the Aztecs.
The topic of this chapter is commonalities and variations. The chapter opens up with very shocking ones unfortunately. The world's population was very unevenly distributed. More than three quarters of the world populations lived in Eurasia, which made me wonder why the scale was so tipped during those times. The answer might likely be development, and what resources each land mass and/or civilization had to work with.
The second thing that jumped to my attention was the methods of ruling, since the Nubia civilization had women rule, which provided diversity among the society. In the other side of the spectrum, the Axum civilization administrated loosely, well sort of. Instead of collecting taxes this society wanted people to make tribute payments. In the middle of the spectrum, the Niger river civilization had no central power.
The maya Civilization is something that comes to no surprise, they collapsed because of warfare, and I have read this many times, watched documentaries, but I wonder what we would know about the civilization had we as a society have Mayan books and scriptures in abundance today.
One thing I did not comprehend on this reading was the collapse of Teotihuacan, because the book states that the city collapsed around 650. As someone who studied history in Mexico during grade school, we were not taught this. We were actually thought that the civilization evolved, due to the diversity of the Nahua, the Otomi, and the Totonac peoples. Unfortunately, world history undermines indigenous groups of present day Mexico that were smaller than Aztecs and Mayans, and of course the 1st ones which were the toltecs. For example, When people say Mexicans have Aztec blood I do not relate to it, because my Indigenous roots lie in the Purepecha civilization, which was not conquered by the Aztecs.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Chapter 4/5
On one side we have the positive shaping to history, Jesus Buddha and Confucius, whom with their teachings they influenced the people. Jesus taught people to love thy enemy, and promoted forgiveness and peace. Jesus influenced what we know today as the western world, since many events in history have been influenced by Christianity. This set of teachings flourished during the roman empire, and later by the holy roman empire.
Buddha was born in India to a wealthy family in the warrior class. He was raised to not see the real world, only the world of abundance and lavishness. When he discovered the world he did not see, he set out to find meaning and fulfillment. this eventually led him to nirvana, the state of liberation. This set of teachings were revolutionary, because they defied the caste system and influenced many millions of people.
Confucius was a philosopher, whos teachings promoted morality as a person, as a government, and as a relationship between two people. His teachings influenced society in an institutional level, since he influenced how the Chinese government ran during the Qin dynasty. The analects were at some point the most studied book in china, making Confucius one of the most influential eastern leaders.
On the other side, we have the development of classism. Classism is the segregation of the poor and the rich. This is labeled based on power, wealth and occupation. India created the caste system, in which people could not progress in their socioeconomic status through their life, while china had a landlord system that treated peasants unfairly. Seems as if the institutions took control during this era, and have been as is ever since.
On one side we have the positive shaping to history, Jesus Buddha and Confucius, whom with their teachings they influenced the people. Jesus taught people to love thy enemy, and promoted forgiveness and peace. Jesus influenced what we know today as the western world, since many events in history have been influenced by Christianity. This set of teachings flourished during the roman empire, and later by the holy roman empire.
Buddha was born in India to a wealthy family in the warrior class. He was raised to not see the real world, only the world of abundance and lavishness. When he discovered the world he did not see, he set out to find meaning and fulfillment. this eventually led him to nirvana, the state of liberation. This set of teachings were revolutionary, because they defied the caste system and influenced many millions of people.
Confucius was a philosopher, whos teachings promoted morality as a person, as a government, and as a relationship between two people. His teachings influenced society in an institutional level, since he influenced how the Chinese government ran during the Qin dynasty. The analects were at some point the most studied book in china, making Confucius one of the most influential eastern leaders.
On the other side, we have the development of classism. Classism is the segregation of the poor and the rich. This is labeled based on power, wealth and occupation. India created the caste system, in which people could not progress in their socioeconomic status through their life, while china had a landlord system that treated peasants unfairly. Seems as if the institutions took control during this era, and have been as is ever since.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Presidential debate!!!!
According to the superior man from the analects of Confucius, none of the candidates was the superior one. I say that because as XV.20 " What the superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in others. Both Candidates during the presidential debate picked on and talked badly about each other as if it were middle school. Each candidate did not explain quite clearly, because instead of going in depth about how each candidate succeed while in office, but instead how the other candidate could fail.
XIV.29 The master said, " the superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions" Neither candidate was modest. this goes back to the last quote from Confucius. Each candidate did not extensively explain an issue, rather spoke about thy self and badly about the other candidate. To sum this bad trail of comments, both candidates need to stop talking about themselves and how great they are, they need to put more implementation to what they can do for us as registered voters.
IV.16 "The mind of the superior Man is conversant with virtue; the mind of the base man is conversant with gain" Both candidates need to put more virtues toward their campaign, rather than making the campaign a reality show.
According to the superior man from the analects of Confucius, none of the candidates was the superior one. I say that because as XV.20 " What the superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in others. Both Candidates during the presidential debate picked on and talked badly about each other as if it were middle school. Each candidate did not explain quite clearly, because instead of going in depth about how each candidate succeed while in office, but instead how the other candidate could fail.
XIV.29 The master said, " the superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions" Neither candidate was modest. this goes back to the last quote from Confucius. Each candidate did not extensively explain an issue, rather spoke about thy self and badly about the other candidate. To sum this bad trail of comments, both candidates need to stop talking about themselves and how great they are, they need to put more implementation to what they can do for us as registered voters.
IV.16 "The mind of the superior Man is conversant with virtue; the mind of the base man is conversant with gain" Both candidates need to put more virtues toward their campaign, rather than making the campaign a reality show.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Chapter 2 Documents
The question I chose to answer was: What can you infer from the code about th kind of social problems that afflicted Mesopotamia?
Based on the code I am sure that there was a lot of homelessness or people having to look for housing with their friends or family. For many people in failure to comply with the law, the party whom was affected must take their house upon not complying with the law. I can see some disparity here since people who may have known how to use the system might have had big plots of land. In many cases possession looks to have been something taken too seriously because of this basis. Merchant recipts must have been too strict, leaving someone to oversee a house must have been uncommon, and hiring mercenaries must have been a last resort.
Tied to this is the judicial system, which looks pretty harsh. There must have been a shortage of judges since if a judge made a mistake he was hurt economically, and could not keep practicing his job. I assume that a lot of judges ended their practice broke, since they had to pay 12 times of what they assigned to the party that was ordered to pay up. Not only economically was harm done, but also physically since the tooth for tooth method was born and/or first written for the first time in this society. Adding to all the harm, many crimes such as robbery were punishable by death, and others were harsh such as hopping on the river. The river sometimes meant death and this must have caused either really good behavior or a lot of deaths.
Marriage and woman treatment also looks complicated, since marriage rules tend to not have incline to any forgiveness, and at the same time can leave a lot of baggage.
The question I chose to answer was: What can you infer from the code about th kind of social problems that afflicted Mesopotamia?
Based on the code I am sure that there was a lot of homelessness or people having to look for housing with their friends or family. For many people in failure to comply with the law, the party whom was affected must take their house upon not complying with the law. I can see some disparity here since people who may have known how to use the system might have had big plots of land. In many cases possession looks to have been something taken too seriously because of this basis. Merchant recipts must have been too strict, leaving someone to oversee a house must have been uncommon, and hiring mercenaries must have been a last resort.
Tied to this is the judicial system, which looks pretty harsh. There must have been a shortage of judges since if a judge made a mistake he was hurt economically, and could not keep practicing his job. I assume that a lot of judges ended their practice broke, since they had to pay 12 times of what they assigned to the party that was ordered to pay up. Not only economically was harm done, but also physically since the tooth for tooth method was born and/or first written for the first time in this society. Adding to all the harm, many crimes such as robbery were punishable by death, and others were harsh such as hopping on the river. The river sometimes meant death and this must have caused either really good behavior or a lot of deaths.
Marriage and woman treatment also looks complicated, since marriage rules tend to not have incline to any forgiveness, and at the same time can leave a lot of baggage.
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